Even though he decided to call the delay in the appointment of a new Clerk ‘modest’, John Bercow has just suffered a humiliating climb down in the Commons.
The Speaker was heckled as he tried to justify his decision to appoint Carol Mills. When he said ‘a number of colleagues have since expressed disquiet’, Michael Fabricant shouted ‘HA!’.
He continued, but the Speaker’s authority has been seriously bruised by this episode. He styled himself as the champion of Parliament, empowering backbenchers. But pushing the Commons too far has led to those empowered backbenchers turning on him.
However, if Bercow thinks that this 'modest pause' is enough to calm down the 84 MPs who have pledged their support to the campaign by Jesse Norman and Natascha Engel for proper scrutiny of the appointment, he could find he is much mistaken.
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in